Vendetta
by Sithwitch 13
Summary: Rogue Squadron attends a ceremony on Kessel, but nothing goes as planned. Done for the Rogue and Wraiths ficathon on LJ. Oneshot.


_Disclaimer: Star Wars is George Lucas' property, and I'm not making any money off of this.  
Done for inyron for the LJ group wraithsquadron's first ever Rogues and Wraiths Ficathon. My prompts were Kessel, Sabacc, Lightsaber._

Vendetta

"Bring back any memories?"

Inyri Forge grunted. "How could it not? I grew up here."

"It's been, what, fourteen years?"

_Has it really been that long?_ "Sounds about right, yeah."

Gavin Darklighter gave a wistful smile. "It really does seem like a lifetime ago."

"Got that right, boss."

This time, Gavin's grin was amused. "You don't have to call me that, you know. You're older than me."

"You're Rogue Leader now, and old habits die hard."

"It does seem pretty unreal."

"Yeah, it does. You were just a gangly kid fresh of the farm when we met. Now you're in charge of the most famous New Republic snubfighter squadron in the galaxy, you're married, you have... how many kids now?"

"They grow up so fast," chimed in Nawara before Gavin could answer.

Gavin rolled his eyes. "Wedge, how in the name of the Force did you ever manage to keep all these comics in line?"

Wedge smirked. "Years of practice, Gavin. Good luck."

Inyri laughed along with the rest of Rogue Squadron currently in attendance. She hadn't seen so many of them in years... Wedge and Tycho had retired. Corran had decided to retire and become a full-time Jedi. Nawara and Rhysati were now working aboard the _Errant Venture_... and she had stayed with Rogue Squadron. She, Ooryl, and Gavin were now the only ones that remained from the time that she had first joined the squadron. It was a little depressing how fast the universe moved, now that she considered it.  
But this little reunion was nice, even if it meant returning to Kessel and being forced to wear her dress uniform.

"How've you been, Inyri?"  
Inyri smiled at Mirax Terrik-Horn. While Mirax wasn't a Rogue, she had been in close association with them for years until Wedge had been promoted and Corran had retired. Nowadays she was busy with motherhood and running a busy acquisitions business and rarely had a chance to visit with her old friends.

"I'm good. How's Valin?"  
"He's at the Jedi Academy now." She smiled a bit wistfully. "They grow up so fast."

"I'll take your word for it. How's business?"  
"Booming, as usual. After the ceremony, I'll be making a stop to Kubaz to pick up some cargo."

"Where's Corran gone to? I haven't been able to talk to him yet."

"He's right—oh." Right as Mirax pointed him out, conspicuous in his green Jedi robes, they both noticed a uniformed New Republic security officer speaking with him. "I'll be right back."

* * *

"...just let me let my wife know," Mirax heard Corran say as she approached.

"Let me know what?"

The security officer nodded in greeting, but remained silent. Corran gave a half-smile. "Looks like we may have a little trouble inside one of the mines. They figure a single Jedi might be more effective and low-key than a squad of soldiers in sorting it out."

"Don't do anything stupid, okay?" she said, smiling.

He grinned. "Hey, it's me."

"Exactly." She kissed him on the cheek. "Go take care of it."

She smiled wistfully as Corran followed the security officer out the exit. _Let's hope it really isn't anything too bad._

She noticed the holocamera operators making the final checks to their equipment and the New Republic's representative stepping up to the podium. _Here we go_, she thought as she returned to the seat assigned to her.

The representative, a male Sullustan, adjusted his sleeves as he began to speak. "Gentlebeings, welcome! Today marks ten years of a free Kessel. Ten years ago, the New Republic liberated the political prisoners working as slave labor here."

_Political prisoners, indeed,_ Mirax thought. The vast majority of those on Kessel had been criminals sentenced to hard labor. _Dad would have himself a good laugh at all this. And then he'd probably punch someone._ Her father had spent five years here, sent by Corran's father after a long career in smuggling.

She half-listened to the Sullustan's speech, her attention drifting around the assembled members of Rogue Squadron from the decade before. Corran had told her that Kyp Durron and Han Solo had been invited to the event, but both had declined. As it was, those attending were trying their damndest to not appear bored or uncomfortable since the holocams were occasionally panning over to where they sat.

Mirax stifled a yawn. _Corran's lucky to be missing this._ She checked her chronometer. _For a "little trouble", he's taking quite a while. I have a bad feeling about this…_

A few seconds later, there was an ominous rumble and a noise that sounded suspiciously like a muffled explosion.

* * *

Corran opened his eyes, though it didn't do him any good. _Am I blind?_ His head hurt and his ears were ringing, so he discounted the possibility of being dead quickly. He groaned as he sat up and felt for blood on the back of his head.

"He's alive!"  
"Who's that?" he asked, then grunted in pain as he jumped to his feet. His hand had gone to his belt, but his lightsaber wasn't there. And there was a strange weight on his face that felt like a breathing mask. _What just happened?_

"Security Officer Gylar," came the answer. Corran frowned and tried to remember. "I think Terec is dead"

_Terec... Gylar... ah. Terec's the one who came and got me from the ceremony, Gylar met us here. Twi'lek, nervous fellow._ "What just happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"I know I'm on Kessel, there's some sort of ceremony, and now I'm standing here in the dark with my head bleeding. No, I can't remember."

Corran could hear Gylar gulp and feel his panic. "We—the security office—noticed some odd transmissions from some of our mining droids. We sent down a team to investigate and—"

"Some former prisoners had snuck in and taken them hostage," Corran finished. "Now I remember. One of them triggered an explosive that must have caused a cave-in."

"And now we're stuck in here with three unconscious hostages and a limited air supply." _Great,_ Corran thought, _this day just keeps getting better and better._ "Can you cut our way out with your lightsaber?"

"Do you still have those goggles that you were carrying earlier?"

"Yes."

"Good. Look around, see if you see it on the floor. I can't find it anywhere near me."

About a minute later, Gylar responded, sounding panicked. "I don't see it."

_Kriffing hell._ "Then it was probably knocked out of my hand when I got knocked out and is probably under those rocks."

"Can't you use the Force? Levitate the rocks... or something?"

Corran sighed. _Here it comes._ "I can't levitate objects. I could make you _think_ I had, but we'd still be stuck here."

"..._what kind of lousy Jedi are you!"_

"You're obviously hysterical, so I'll let that one go. It's just never been strong in my family."

"We're going to die."

"No, we're not. We're not all that far from the surface. Chances are the explosion was heard and help will be here any minute."

"So... what will we do until then?"

Corran sat back down and chuckled to himself. "You wouldn't happen to have any sabacc cards, would you?"

* * *

"Let me _through_, if I can see a map, I can help get to them!" Inyri pushed her way through the crowd of security personnel. "Look, I was born here!"

"A lot's changed since you were last here, Madame Forge."

"That's _Major_ Forge. And if those people _were_ prisoners here and snuck in through tunnels that they remembered, then odds are I'd remember them, too."

"She's got a point," said one officer grudgingly. They let her through to the table that a map of the facility was laid out on. Sure enough, while a lot of new tunnels had been added throughout the years, she remembered the basics of this one.

"It'll take about an hour, maybe, to go around to the back. It'll still be faster than trying to cut through those rocks."

"Isn't there a Jedi down there? Why can't he cut through?"

"If he hasn't already, he's probably either injured or lost his lightsaber somehow," answered Mirax quietly. "If he was able, he'd have sliced his way through by now."

"I'm sorry, Mirax," said Wedge.

"How much air do they have?" she asked.

"In theory, each security officer has a two-hour supply on their masks. The initial group was down there for about twenty minutes before Horn, Gylar, and Terec. As it is, they're the ones we need to worry about."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Inyri started to pull off her white dress jacket, then remembered how cold the tunnels were and replaced it. "Someone get me a breathing mask and a light."

One of the security officers looked like he was about to protest, but another, presumably his superior, interrupted. "Right away, ma'am. Major."

Inyri looked over at Mirax, who looked calmer than she had any right to be. "I'm sure Corran's fine," she said. Mirax smiled tightly in response. "He's saved my butt more times than I can remember, he'd be rude not to let me even the score."

Wedge shook his head. Inyri shrugged helplessly. "Back soon," she settled on saying.

* * *

Corran sighed, worried. He and Gylar had attempted a game of sabacc, but the Twi'lek's hands had shaken so bad that the cards went everywhere. Instead, Corran and Gylar had began taking turns using the goggles and making sure that the three unconscious guards were still alive. Corran had done what he could for the swelling around the human's head, where one of the former prisoners had pistol-whipped her. The Rodian had been shot in the abdomen and had presumably lost consciousness from shock. _Jedi healing abilities will only last so long on him,_ Corran thought. The third, a Sullustan, looked to have been knocked unconscious by falling rubble. Additionally, a large piece of rock had landed on his leg, breaking it. Corran and Gylar had been able to remove the stone, and while the bone wasn't poking through, the Sullustan's lower leg was effectively shattered.

"We're pretty lucky," he said softly, to no one in particular.

Gylar grunted in response. His panic had given way to a quietly desperate state. _At least he's quieter now,_ Corran thought. _The accusations of being a second rate Jedi were getting old fast._

"Are you sure you don't—"  
"I don't know the way out!" Gylar yelled. "The droids down there are built to harvest spice, not lift rocks, and if either of us went exploring—"

"It'd be a bad idea, I know. I was just hoping you might remember something now that you are—were—calmer than earlier."

"Apparently not." The Twi'lek sounded sulky. Corran might have been amused under other circumstances.

"There's only a limited amount of time on the air tanks for these three. That's why I'm concerned."

"Did you know there's spiders down here?"

"What?"  
"Big spider-like things. They're usually further down, but I keep thinking I'm hearing this scraping, skittering sound."

"Just your imagination. I would have heard it, too."

"They make the spice, you know."

"I didn't, actually."

"Their prey give off light, and it activates the spice on the webs. I saw it once, in a holo." Gylar shuddered.

"You said they're down there, though, right? Wouldn't have any reason to come up this far, would they?"

"It doesn't stop me from thinking I hear them."

"I suppose it doesn't." Corran sighed. "Keep listening, someone has to be coming for us. A friend of mine used to live here, she'll bring help right to us."

* * *

"How did they get in?"

"Ma'am, I really shouldn't be discussing this with—"  
"_My husband is down there._" Mirax's voice remained low, but she kept it steeled. It was a technique that tended to work on obstinate clients and her son, and it didn't fail her now.

The human officer—Beq, his nametag said—looked around and began speaking in a quiet voice. "From the looks of it, they landed their ship miles away and went through the tunnels. Since at least one of them had a detonation device of some sort, we're guessing that they planned to blow up the ceremony, possibly as some sort of political statement."

"How many of them were there?"

"...we don't know. At least three, judging from com chatter before officers Yar, Nata, and Pweeik were taken hostage."

Mirax nodded, as did Wedge beside her. Mirax was glad for his presence. He was still like a brother to her, though one she saw all-too-rarely nowadays. Mirax nodded to Beq and moved toward where Gavin and the rest of the Rogues, minus Ooryl and Inyri, were standing. "What do you think?"

Wedge shook his head. "I really don't know. It _sounds_ simple, but when has that ever been the case with any of us?"

"You're right."

"I know you're worried about Corran—"

"He's fine. He's too stubborn to die this easily. And if Inyri and Ooryl and the rest of them take a long time to reach him, he can go into a Jedi trance. But... I don't know, something just feels off."

* * *

"How much farther do we have to go?"

Inyri paused, looked at the copy of the map she had taken with her, and did some mental calculations. "We should reach them within ten minutes."

One of the other officers checked his watch. "We'll be cutting it close."

"In that case, I suggest we hurry," said Inyri, feeling irritated.

"I think I may be hearing something," said Ooryl.

"Is it Corran?"

"Ooryl cannot say."

"Not your fault, Ooryl. Let's just hope they're closer than we thought."

After a couple of minutes, the sounds of two men talking could clearly be heard. "Corran?" Inyri called.

There was a pause, and then an answering call. "Inyri? That you?"

She grinned. "It sure is, and it's great to hear your—"

"_Down!"_

Without thinking, Inyri followed Corran's shouted command, and thus missed being shot through the chest by a blaster bolt. "What in the kriffing hells—"

"You can't hide, Forge!"

Inyri blinked in surprise as she reached for her blaster and rolled in a direction away from the source of the yell. _That voice..._

"Do you recognize me, Forge? After all these years?"

"Why don't you come out and show me your face?" she called back, nodding at Ooryl to take the guards and masks and head over to Corran and Gylar.

Another blaster bolt in the floor in front of them stopped them. "Not so fast. I've got some unfinished business here with Thyne's cutter."

_This is not good..._ "Let them go. It's me you want."

A chuckle. "Oh no. No no. They get to watch."

_Myla! _Now _I remember!_ "They're not going to watch a damn thing, Myla."

"Ah, so the cutter remembers." Through the goggles, she saw Myla step out from behind a rock outcropping. The years hadn't been kind to him. "You ruined my life, Forge."

"If I remember correctly, you landed yourself here."

"It's not that. I would have been fine. But you... you sold me out."

"That was a different time."

"_You_ told Thyne that I was hoarding spice to sell without giving him a cut of the profit. You lied."

"I did no such thing."

"Yes you did," Myla hissed viciously. "He cut off my ears for that."

"You weren't any great beauty with them, if I remember."

"And then he cut off my eyes. And three of my fingers. And that sweet deal that I had? No more. I could have been a big name from here. I had all the contacts. And then he took over and left me a ruin."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Inyri saw a man's shape creeping silently towards Myla. _Corran._ She took a step forward.

"Stay right where you are!"  
"Why don't you just shoot me already?" Myla sputtered and Inyri took another step towards him. "Save me from your idiot ranting."

"Stay put!" he screamed, firing another shot. It flew past her shoulder. At that moment, Corran sprang from his crouch and tackled Myla. Simultaneously, Inyri threw herself at him. Myla shrieked and fired his blaster wildly. Corran managed to absorb a few of the bolts that looked to be heading in the way of the injured security and rescue crew, while Inyri wrestled the blaster away. She pulled out her own, set it to stun, and fired into Myla's head. After some initial spasms, he was still.

"That was too close," she remarked, standing.  
"Agreed."

* * *

Back at the topside facility, the three injured officers were being prepped for emergency bacta treatment.

"How are they?" Gavin asked.

"Pweeik—the Rodian—might make it, or he might not. The other two'll be fine."

Gavin stood silently, staring at Myla, who was being escorted to a detention cell until he could be tried. The man was even more hideous in the light than he had been through the goggles. "All of this, just to get to you?"

"Sort of. The explosion and all that, yeah, that was to try and make a statement, he said. Some of his cronies planned the whole thing, and once he found out I was involved... Gavin, the man was unstable already when I knew him years ago. I guess the years just made him crazier."

"It's been an interesting trip home, hasn't it?"

"Sure has been." She grinned, watching Corran and Mirax, who still weren't letting each other go further than an arm's length away. Corran's head was still swathed in a bandage, though he swore he didn't need it. They were currently talking to a Twi'lek in a dirty, torn Kessel Security uniform. The Twi'lek was smiling guiltily and holding out what looked like a deck of sabacc cards to Corran, who laughed.

"Another time, maybe," she heard him say.

"Definitely nice seeing everyone again," she murmured to herself. "All things considered."


End file.
